Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 10:4

"And when the seven thunders uttered [their voices], I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." — Revelation 10:4 (ASV)

And when the seven . . .—Translate, And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven, saying, Seal up the things which the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them.

He could have written down their utterances. It was no mere thunder-like sound he heard; the thunders spoke. He would have continued his writing as he had been commanded (Revelation 1:11) had not the voice from heaven forbidden him.

The utterances, then, are for those who hear them; they are not to be made generally known. Is it not the solemn, sacred, divine voice, not to be known by all, but by those who have ears to hear when the God of glory thundereth? Lo! He doth send forth His voice, yea, and that a mighty voice (Psalms 68:33). Mankind may hear the thunder; only those whose ears God has opened can hear the utterances and the inspiriting messages which they bring.

So was it once in our Lord’s life. The people said it thundered; some thought an angel spoke. But there were articulate words which He who came to do God’s will, in whose heart was God’s law, heard, and to Him that thunder-like voice promised to glorify His name (John 12:28–29).

Similarly here, the Evangelist (who is in this but a type of the true witnesses for God), who is to prophesy before peoples and kings (Revelation 10:11), hears words spoken by the divine voice which make him strong for his mission.

It is always so. There are dull ears that hear thunder, but never God’s voice; there are dim eyes that see no trace of the divine craftsman in all nature, though

“Earth’s crammed with God,
And every common bush aglow with Him.”

The thunders are not to be written down; they are for those who have ears to hear.